I went to the Cougars-Everett game tonight to watch Khaira (and forgot that Betker is also on the same team). Jujhar went scoreless and -1, but he was put out for a ton of faceoffs and won most of them (quite easily too), he looks big out there, good stride too. Betker is a big kid too, didn't realize how big he was until I saw him tonight...he looked alright out there too.

Want to go to Saturdays game too, but I think I will be too busy to make it unfortunately.

There were no articles saying Rieder was going back into the draft. At least none that I have seen. I actually feel somewhat responsible for this in a way since I speculated this might be the case after hearing comments on the Ranger broadcast the day he was traded. The Ranger broadcasters were saying how happy his agent seemed to be with the trade and they speculated that the Rieder camp did not see much of a future with the Oilers given the Oilers depth up front. Things kind of took off from there.

To be honest I still think it was a legitimate possibility given the timing of the deal and the Oilers roster at the time. But I have never seen any official confirmation that this would be the case.

As I said I followed almost every game Rieder played after being drafted, and while I was disappointed I understand the trade. Clearly Rieder has the higher upside offensively but Kessy is much more the type of player that the Oilers would need to complement their current core. In that regard it was a potentially justifiable gamble, even if it was a gamble.

If this is the case I apologize for the misinformation and dislike the trade a lot more. However, I have to concede that Rieder regressed in a big way his last year. I had high hopes for him as a Marco Sturm-style 2/3 line tweener and dynamite PKer.

Ho hum, I hope it works out for both sides. My brother (whose opinion I hold very high on prospects) has loved Kessy since his draft year and was really excited about the trade, so I can remain optimistic. Maybe he can be the elusive 'face puncher that doesn't suck.'

Still the start to the season has been great. It's like bizarro world from last year. Rather than a nearly complete list of prospects either spinning their tires or regressing (sans Khaira and maybe Simpson), the opposite seems to be happening. Except for maybe in Houck's case. I can't complain about a [darn] thing right now.

That's weird. Every other site I've seen him has him at at least 6'2. Even the Oilers site him listed as him at 6'2 194.
Even just comparing him to his linemates on youtube videos Im confident in saying he's over 6 feet tall.

This can only be the result of some KHL conspiracy, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that Anton is actually 35 with a wife and kids.

That's weird. Every other site I've seen him has him at at least 6'2. Even the Oilers site him listed as him at 6'2 194.
Even just comparing him to his linemates on youtube videos Im confident in saying he's over 6 feet tall.

This can only be the result of some KHL conspiracy, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that Anton is actually 35 with a wife and kids.

well, i'd consider the Salavat official site best source of info on him, it being the team he plays for and stuff... it lists him as exactly that. he hasn't ever been at Oilers' hands to measure him independently yet.

well, i'd consider the Salavat official site best source of info on him, it being the team he plays for and stuff... it lists him as exactly that. he hasn't ever been at Oilers' hands to measure him independently yet.

Yah, I'd bet you're right. I figured the only other place to measure him recently would be for the WJC, and they confirm 6'0 and pretty light.

As for the rest of the site I'd imagine it gets posted one place over here and everyone spreads it from there.

If this is the case I apologize for the misinformation and dislike the trade a lot more. However, I have to concede that Rieder regressed in a big way his last year. I had high hopes for him as a Marco Sturm-style 2/3 line tweener and dynamite PKer.

Ho hum, I hope it works out for both sides. My brother (whose opinion I hold very high on prospects) has loved Kessy since his draft year and was really excited about the trade, so I can remain optimistic. Maybe he can be the elusive 'face puncher that doesn't suck.'

Still the start to the season has been great. It's like bizarro world from last year. Rather than a nearly complete list of prospects either spinning their tires or regressing (sans Khaira and maybe Simpson), the opposite seems to be happening. Except for maybe in Houck's case. I can't complain about a [darn] thing right now.

I know this is not a thread about Rieder but I think that what you said leads to an important thing for us to remember about all prospects. Most of us have little opportunity to follow prospects by any means other than the stat sheet. Unfortunately that can at time tell a lie. I watched almost every game Rieder played last year and I can say that he did not regress at all even if his numbers did. He had a very different role last year from the one he played the year before. Even when he was not scoring he often played very well. When the Ranges added Leivo and moved Rieder to the middle he really took off in both end of the ice.

I am guilty of it as much as anyone but we do need to remember that goals and assists don't always tell the whole story.

That's out of date. Gus is 6'0.5" and 203. He absolutely rocked Brett Sterling with a huge hit on the red line yesterday. Has also been playing really well lately. Very solid defensively and handles the puck very well. Would say he plays a game similar to that of Beauchemin.

I went to the Broncos/Giants game last night. Unfortunately I do not have a good repoft about Houck. The kid is a big body, does not have a good first or second stride. He is not played mu h. Very rarely he is used on thePP in front of the net. If I had to guess I would say he played 14 mins max. He had one thundering hit that caused three broncos to come to the aid of their teammate. The bad part of this report is that it always seems like Houck always labouring and gassed.....he does not have any pep out there whatsoever. It is noticeable.... the way he goes to the bench...the way he skates during a whistle....as if he is sick or has mono or something.